Home
by nycgrl
Summary: Remus and Tonks go househunting, and Remus has epiphanies along the way. RLNT oneshot.


HOME

By nycgrl

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, of course.

---

"Remus!" she whispered loudly as she could. She jolted upright into a sitting position, and shook the arm of the man sleeping quietly next to her. "Remus, wake up!"

The man, who had had his back to her, turned to his other side with much grumbling. "Whas'it, Tonks?" he slurred sleepily, immediately followed by a series of light snores that suggested he had dozed off without ever intending to receive an answer.

"Remus?" she said a little louder this time, "Oh, for Merlin's sakes, are you a werewolf or a vampire?" She glanced nervously at the door.

"Actually," he said, his eyes still closed, "If I were a vampire, that would imply I _shouldn't_ be sleeping at this time of the night."

"You know what I mean. Something that sleeps a lot," she said, rolling her eyes, and taking the opportunity of his sign of life to shake his arm roughly again. "Remus, I think there's someone in the house," she whispered hurriedly.

He sighed heavily, finally opened his eyes, resigning to her will and sitting upright as well. "What? What is it?" He yawned, the hand covering his mouth muffling his voice.

"Sh!" she shushed him, surveying the room with suspicion. "Do you hear that?"

And indeed, now that he was fully awake, he could hear a loud clanging periodically emerge from above them.

He brought his hand up to massage his temple. "It sounds like we have a ghoul," he said tiredly.

She gave a weak half-laugh, slamming her head back against her pillow. "So you're saying that this place was undetectable and impenetrable by the strongest Dark wizard of all time, and a ghoul gets in?" She started a high-pitched laugh that bordered hysteria.

He reached out to rest his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly. He began to try to say something comforting, when an especially loud _clang_ rang throughout the house from above them—and all hell broke loose.

_"FILTHY HALF-BREEDS! SHAPESHIFTING FREAKS OF NATURE! DESPICABLE CREATURES DIRTYING MY FAMILY HOME! YOU DON'T BELONG HERE! LEAVE…!"_

She buried her head in the pillow, attempting to block out the clamor by covering her ears with her hands. She was shaking so violently that he grew concerned she was crying.

"Tonks," he murmured, his voice completely lost in the din. She tilted her head up and screamed something at him, but he couldn't hear it over Mrs. Black's rambling.

"Tonks, what? Tonks, I can't hear you!" he shouted back, though they were an arm's length away. "Wait," he said, throwing back the covers and jumping to his feet, "I'll be right back!" Knowing it was hopeless to try to be heard, he simply pointed toward the door as he jogged out.

A few minutes later, the screams of Sirius' mother had ceased, and soon after, he returned to the room, visibly exhausted, and closed the door quietly behind him. He looked to find that she was sitting upright once again, her arms crossed and her mouth in a grim line.

He padded back to bed and slipped in silently. He turned to her, and rested his fingertips lightly on her knee. He studied her face in the shallow moonlight that streamed through the window, trying to see what was wrong. Finally, assuming it must've been the ranting of Sirius' mum, he said softly, "You know you can't listen to that old bat. She just talks trash."

She sighed jadedly, turning to him with a glum face. "Well, she was right about one thing. We don't belong here. In fact, no proper creature possessing a _soul_ belongs here."

"Oh, Tonks," he sighed, wrapping his arms around her and placing his chin on top of her bubblegum pink curls. "It's not so bad."

"Remus!" she exclaimed in disbelief, her cry sending vibrations up his chin. "This is the fifth time in the past month she's gone off in the middle of the night. We now have a resident _ghoul_ sharing our premises. This house is dark and evil and _revoltingly ugly_ . And affection-deprived painting or not, I refuse to forgive Phineas Nigellus for looking in on us last week when we were… _you know_ . We just can't live here, I won't have it!" To punctuate her conviction, she thrusted out a fist, which accidentally hit him in the arm.

"Ow!" he elicited loudly.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

He didn't respond, as he rubbed his sore arm thoughtfully. He knew where she was going with this, and the thoughts of it had been in the back of his head since the Second War had ended. Now that the Order no longer needed the Grimmauld Place resident as headquarters, many of its former members were reluctant to set foot inside the foreboding home again. He had been left at peace with her, and these back-of-the-head thoughts. He had silently laughed at them then, thinking, No, I don't think so. We better start looking for a new flat, they had said way back when, and before long, weeks pushed into months pushed into two years. Number Twelve had seeped into them, holding them down with its bleak familiarity. They woke up, they ate, they took turns closing the old crow's heavy curtains, and they walked through the hallway of stuffed elves' heads without a second glance for two years. It was a place to live, but never a home.

And now, these back-of-the-head thoughts were pushing forward. He knew what she was asking for without words. A home, her eyes said, a place for us. That was what he pondered as he looked at the blue-black mark she had left on his arm, at the first rays of the sun that peaked in through their forever-grimy windows, at her. There was a difference, he observed, of _living together_ and _having a home together_. And there was more to _having a home together_ than arguing over who would do the dishes or walk the hippogriff. The home would belong to both of them. They would belong to each other. Neither could leave now; they had a _home together_ . How concrete this place of walls and doors made them, this place they would seat their friends and say, _This is our home_. He laughed in his head again then, but for a different reason. These thoughts of this place, which he hadn't wanted to think about, let alone say, now felt nice. Right. Spring cleaning, dinner parties, he thought of what this impending home would entail, evenings in the library, de-Gnoming Saturdays, cleaning the hair drain in the shower, her. Her, always her. She embodied his home.

"So what do you say, Lupin? Let's leave," she said in a seductive whisper, as if voicing their favorite sexual fantasy. "Let's leave this place, and torch it to the ground and shag in its ashy remains and never come back." She veiled it well, but he could tell what she was really asking. Come with me, she offered, let's have a life together, away from the past and the dead-ends. Let's see what's next.

He smiled into her hair. "Okay," he said. She shrieked victoriously in response, talking incoherently and excitedly for the next few minutes. He laughed at her, and she laughed back. Finally, she grew tired, and leaned back on her pillows with her arms behind her head and a brilliant grin.

"… I hope you realize I'm joking about the sooty ruins shagging."

"Oh, darn."

And so the hunt began.

---

"So… it's cozy," she said, feigning cheeriness.

The truth of matter was, it was small. And not just, the bathtub doubles as a kitchen sink small, no, it was the ceilings are five feet tall small. Somehow, they had missed the part in the advertisement where it said the flats in this building were specially designed for goblins.

They were both ducking in order to avoid the low ceiling. She tried anxiously to hold on to his hand, a difficult task, as they couldn't even walk side-by-side due to the width of the parlor. So she walked a bit ahead of him, keeping one hand tightly around one of his fingers, the idea lurking in the back of her head that if she got lost in the miniature realm, she would shrink and be trapped forever the size of a needle.

The real estate agent was a small goblin woman with small wire-rimmed glasses perched precariously at the tip of her large nose. (Mrs. June Pickleweather of Sized to Fit Realties, "Big dreams, small homes". Tonks could barely believe the nursery rhyme reality of it all.) They arrived at a small (understatement) room with a dinky little window. "And over here's the master bedroom, very spacious," squeaked Mrs. Pickleweather. Trying her best to look around with deep interest, Tonks stopped to survey a corner.

"Hey! Our bed would be lovely under that window… that's below my chest." She nodded slightly.

He could barely hold back giggles from watching Tonks under such torture. He cleared his throat, and learned forward to her ear. "Can we go?" he whispered, squeezing her hand.

She turned around quickly, bumping her head against the ceiling. She winced, but took no further notice of the mishap.

"I thought you'd never ask," she exclaimed, before grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door of the bedroom. "Thanks, sorry, we're not interested, bye!" she shouted back at Mrs. Pickleweather, who had been knocked off balance and had dropped her glasses on the floor as the two fled the tiny apartment.

---

This was an actual prospect worth consideration. Firstly, it was human-sized. Secondly, it had all rooms a flat should have, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and the like. No pest colonies of any kind, doxies, gnomes, nargles, whatever they were. After all they had seen, Remus and Tonks found this well equipped, in-working-condition flat too good to be true.

"This… is… really… nice," uttered Tonks slowly, afraid of scaring away the pretty, pretty apartment. He nodded slowly from behind her.

"So," said the miserable-looking witch who owned the building in a hoarse, grating voice. "You like?"

The two turned to face her, faces excited with tentative awe. "Well," started Tonks, looking around the apartment critically, "Actually, you know, it's kind of small, and I'm not sure how I feel about having four walled rooms and…"

"We're very interested," interrupted Remus, elbowing her in the side. ("Ouch," she whined, "Way to play it cool".)

"Alright," said the witch, not changing her unwelcoming demeanor at all. "Well, I got some rules. No parties, no noises. If there's a ruckus, I'd kick you out, I can't have you interrupting my shows. Oh yeah, and absolutely no pets. If I so much as smell a hairball on you two, you'd be paying dearly." She then coughed noisily. "I especially don't want no weird animals in here."

"Hm," said Tonks, with a mischievous smile on her face, "That might be troublesome you see… we get occasional visits from an… animal." She bit her lip to keep from exploding from laughter. "We've been known to be friendly with…" she started giggling until she was gasping for breath, "werewolves."

He elbowed her again, harder this time, and took to coughing heavily. "What my dear, tactless, dear girlfriend means to say is," he started evenly, "Is that… um… I happen to be a… um, a werewolf." While he didn't have to tell his "secret", he was somewhat glad Tonks had brought it up, because he always found it best to tell before some horrible incident revealed it, and it would've been difficult to bring up otherwise. While he would've been irked if it had been years ago someone had dropped his secret with such casualty, now with her, it felt as if the world could know and it wouldn't matter as long as she was there with him to face them.

He looked down at her, and she looked back up with twinkling eyes and a sheepish smile. They barely noticed the wretched landlady's revolted expression until she spoke.

"I don't want a dirty half-breed werewolf living my building!" she screamed, with great contempt in her voice. "You lowlifes, what are you two trying to pull here, coming into my house like you're all normal! Get out and stop wasting my time!" She growled, and pulled her wand our of her robe and cried "Expelliarmus!", blasting the two out into the dirty, poorly-lit corridor of the building. The door slammed shut in front of them.

She moaned, rubbing her bottom as she mumbled obscenities. "Miserable hag," she muttered, before screaming it louder, "Miserable hag! Yeah, you better be sorry because you just threw out the kindest, most sensitive and caring man in the world and a girl who you could've charged way too much for that flat and wouldn't have known the least bit of difference!" She huffed, then tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her clothes. "Miserable hag."

He sighed, and put his arm around her shoulders. "Well, what can you do," he said, kissing her on the forehead and giving her a half-smile.

She looked up at him dolefully. "Well, I suppose _I_ could be less of an idiot."

He got up to his feet, brushing off his trousers and holding out a hand for Tonks. She took it, and struggled up. "Watch it, Tonks. I happen to love that idiot you insult," he said playfully, with a sly grin.

She continued to give him a morose look for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. On her feet, and hand in hand, they started to walk toward the exit. "I'm so sorry," she said, as they reached the door. "I'm a dolt, did you know?"

He opened the door for her, and the two stepped out into the sunlight. "I know," he said.

---

"A poltergeist?"

"Well, yes, I'm afraid we've had a poltergeist for um, a while now. He's actually quite friendly, really!" The young woman laughed nervously, stepping on her husband's foot, after which, he began to nod vigorously to her statement. "Great poltergeist," he said vaguely, "Nice… chap."

"Well," Remus said, raising his eyebrows, "I really don't think we're interested then, after all…"

"Oh please, Remus," interrupted Tonks. "My boyfriend can be very pessimistic. Maybe if we met this poltergeist…"

Suddenly, a dining room chair behind Tonks flew toward her head. Remus barely got to say, "Fuck!" before he knocked Tonks down to the ground, the chair narrowly missing them, as it landed with a loud clang on the floor.

Tonks stared at the spot she stood before, wide-eyed. "Oh my Chudley Cannons," she whispered.

The woman who was showing them the flat, who had looked so nice and normal and poised before, started screaming at the top of her lungs, and dancing on either foot in anger. "Oh fuck, Bernard, not now!" she cried, as her husband tried to calm her.

A vase from the coffee table careened into the air, and headed with full force toward Remus and Tonks. Tonks was still in a state of shock, and barely noticed, as Remus hoisted her to her feet and dragged her out the door.

Giving the nerve-wrecked couple a forced smile, he kicked open the door and started out it, both arms under Tonks' to support her weight. "As we said," he called out, "We don't think we're interested! Thanks for your time!" As quickly as he could, he waddled out of the door with Tonks in his arms.

"No, please, wait!" cried the woman, as the two left. "Bernard's not so bad once you get to know him!"

"Sorry!" Remus cried out, already as far away as his legs could get him.

---

She kicked an empty can of soda gloomily to the curb. "You know, the worst part is, that goblin bite-sized flat is starting to look better and better."

The two had decided to walk back to Grimmauld Place from the apartment with a poltergeist (sadly, they can now name every place they've looked at by its transparent problem), seeing as it was a warm night and not too far to go. He held her hand as they strolled dejectedly down the sidewalk, her kicking the can along the way.

"Is it some kind of a sign that I always land on my arse whenever we look at a new flat?" she wondered aloud, staring at the lamppost down the street. "Oh gosh… we're never going to find a new home," she stopped in the middle of the street, rambling. "We'll live in Grimmauld Place forever and ever, and when we die, they'll put our heads with the house elves' wall of shame. And everyone will say, 'There's Remus and Tonks. They went bonkers locked up here, and ended up killing all their friends and eating their shoes!'" She put her hands on her head in a panic.

"Tonks! Tonks!" He grabbed her arms, lowering them. "Tonks," he said calmly, "The home we're looking for is out there. We will not live at Grimmauld Place forever, nor will we kill all our friends and eat our shoes. It's possible, but incredibly unlikely seeing as you don't even like to eat meat that's overdone. Now will you please relax?" He put his hands lightly on her waist and his chin on top of her head.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I love you," she murmured, putting her cheek against his chest. "You're so handy whenever I think I'm going to eat shoes. So we won't live at Grimmauld Place forever?"

"No," he answered into her hair, "We will find the perfect home, and when we do, you'll tell me and we'll move there immediately."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, lifting her head from his chest. "Are you somehow implying that I like to impose my ideas on others?" She looked up at him indignantly.

He grinned. "No, I'm saying that it doesn't matter to me where we move," he his expression softened as he looked at her. "Because you're the only home I'll ever need."

She laughed quietly. "Mr. Lupin," she said brazenly, "Are you trying to get in my pants tonight?"

He laughed back. "I don't know, is it working?"

She winked at him. "A little." Pulling him by his robe, she brought his head down for a long kiss, before the two Disapparated off the street.

---

"Remus, Remus, I found it! I found the one!" she cried as she burst through the door, her hair a tangled mess and her cheeks pink with excitement.

"Well," Remus said, amusedly, "I always suspected this day would come. We had a good run…"

"Ah, no, you silly boy, though don't you wish I'd let you go that easy," she said, winking and swatting his arm lightly as she sat down in a chair next to him around the kitchen table. "I found where we're going to live. It's brilliant!"

She stuck a hand in her right pocket, and after rummaging for a bit, came out with a crinkled, small piece of newsprint. '4 bedroom, 2 baths, library/study, a fixer-upper! Get it for a steal!' it read, listing a Muggle telephone number at the bottom.

"It just flew into my face today, literally!" she continued to babble animatedly. I was walking down the street, and a huge gust of wind just blew it into my face! I almost choked on it. Don't you see, Remus? It's fate!" She stopped, with a huge grin on her face, waiting for his response.

"Well, Tonks…" he started slowly, "How'll we even look at it, it's Muggle…"

"Already taken care of," Tonks interrupted proudly, "I called by Muggle phone today and set up an appointment."

"Well, also," he said, studying the ad, "I thought we'd agreed on a flat, and not a house. You know, what with the price and all."

"I've already taken it all into consideration," she responded, "I asked the guy I called, and it turns out this house really is cheap, way cheap. Like, cheaper than a flat would be, it's spectacular! He said something about a hole in the roof or something like that, but I bet we could patch it up and still had a good deal!"

"Oh…" he said listlessly, "Sounds… really nice."

"Doesn't it just?" she beamed. "I knew you'd love it."

"Yeah," he said despondently, "Who wouldn't love a giant gaping hole in the roof?"

---

"Oh Merlin," she gasped.

He nodded behind her. Merlin was right. This place that Tonks had been so excited about was, to put it lightly, a dump. It looked like it was older than Nicholas Flamel, everything was gray and dusty, the staircase was split in half and indeed, there was a large hole in the ceiling above the parlor. There was no way a human being could inhabit this house.

"It's…" Tonks trailed off, looking around amazed at the house. "Rundown? Ramshackle? Unlivable?" suggested Remus.

"It's… perfect!" Tonks cried. "Oh wow, just look at it Remus! Isn't she a beauty? We can paint the kitchen yellow! And we can make that hole into a skylight!" She continued talking gleefully about all the changes she wanted to make to the house.

He was just plain shocked. How was it possible that he was with the one woman who couldn't see anything for what it really was?

"Tonks," he said, trying to be gentle but firm with her. "It's… a mess! Everything's broken… including the staircase… my foot just walked right through the floor, and it smells like dead animal in here! Surely, you can see that?"

She looked at him, blinking, not talking for a moment. "Can't you feel it, Remus?" she murmured. "It feels like home."

He was about to open his mouth again to further criticize the house, but found himself caught by her eyes. Looking at her, he felt as if he understood. That he could see the house through her eyes, could see the hidden beauty of it all. That maybe, nothing really was what it looked like. They would work for this home, work to make it what they knew it could be. Work because a home isn't bought or found, but built from love. And the house, oh, the house will be beautiful, because she was beautiful. His beautiful home. It was as if he had been missing something all along, and now he could see it.

Never taking his eyes off her, he said, "Yes. It feels like home."

He put his arms around her, as they looked at the new home, and made their plans for the future.

THE END

---

I'm still alive, and as strong a Remus/Tonks supporter as ever!

This was inspired by a review left by Maud2 for u Reading Time /u about how Remus and Tonks got to live in a non-angsty house, and I got to thinking how they would come about that. So, this is somewhat a prequel to u Reading Time /u , but not really.

This is probably the longest one-shot I've ever written, sorry if anyone got bored during it or anything like that.

Please review, I always appreciate it, and thanks for reading!


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